- Date posted
- 3y
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y
Have you received any treatment for your OCD? I see you go to a doctor, but did you go through a recovery program? I ask to give a better clear answer of where I can give advice! From what I read in your post though, it sounds like you’re checking and reassurance seeking. Let’s remember that when OCD does flare up, leaning into our compulsions can worsen our symptoms. It’s definitely a challenge when we have a flare up to want to seek safety, but let’s find acceptance in the uncomfortable moments. You’ve probably had flare ups before, and most likely you will have them again! The progress is that when we start to have flare ups, we use ERP to navigate through it. This helps in times of flare ups and you’ll notice symptoms will start to decrease faster when you are taking the recovery route instead of leaning into compulsions. Compulsions are what can keep us locked in. Also, medication can several weeks to kick in, so be gentle on yourself if it doesn’t work right away and give it some time!
- Date posted
- 3y
I was diagnosed in 2014 after I had my son. I ended up at a partial hospitalization program because I couldn't get in with a therapist or doctor and I was in distress. After that, I was diagnosed, put on 100mg of Zoloft and I improved rather quickly. I have the same psychiatrist, but I haven't had a therapist in a while. Every 2 years, I have a relapse. I think it's from not taking my medication right (I start missing doses here and there) and added stress. My appetite is better, and I felt mostly normal today until some bad DPDR feelings swelled at dinner and I started having intrusive thoughts about thinking I had schizophrenia again. I am hoping I even out soon. I'm in that really uncomfortable period of feeling good for extended amounts of time and then anxiety creeps back, causes DPDR, and then my OCD latches onto worrying about schizophrenia or losing my grip on reality and stuff.
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y
@Cisforcaro Did you ever go through a program that was ERP based or was it always talk therapy?
- Date posted
- 3y
@Jesse Miller CBT only.
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y
@Cisforcaro I think CBT is helpful but ERP is definitely key in recovery! The difference is that ERP teaches us not to run from our fears and embrace them. Maybe the thoughts are true, maybe they’re not. We learn to keep exposing ourselves to our thoughts and responding to them with acceptance and not leaning into compulsions. CBT can sometimes be tricky because we might accidentally lean into compulsions when we don’t even realize we are and can increase OCD symptoms
- Date posted
- 3y
@Jesse Miller I've tried to take that "maybe, maybe not" approach to my thoughts, but it just creates a panic loop in my head.
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y
@Cisforcaro It can be really scary when you first start using it, but it’s important to remember that we don’t know the answer to our thoughts and we shouldn’t try to give into ruminations. We can easily spiral backdown the OCD rabbit hole if we convince it that our thoughts have importance
- Date posted
- 3y
@Jesse Miller Definitely been ruminating all evening and "checking" (trying to see if I better or not). I'm trying to give my meds and their increase some time, then ask my doctor on Wednesday during my appointment for some OCD therapist recommendations.
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y
@Cisforcaro Good idea! NOCD is always a good place to go for recovery too.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 23w
Hi about a week ago I found out I have ocd and chronic anxiety! I tried zoloft and it was terrible for me. I also started therapy and I take hydroxyzine but I will discuss further medication with my doctor. My question is I have a huge fear that I'm going crazy, I am crazy, or schizophrenic to the point I'm so hyper aware of my surrounding ill look out the corner of my eye to make sure I'm nit seeing anything ill make sure to double check what I'm hearing and it's so draining! I get really scared and go into a panic and cry 😅 I need some reassurance has anyone felt this way my doctor and therapist explained it to me but I'm still very scared. I feel like one day I'll have a break and I won't be the same! I tried the grounding exercise and breathing it helps temporarily. I also cut out smoking weed and none of my family has this but I feel like I have it or ill develope it even though it's rare!
- Date posted
- 19w
i can’t cope with the fact that i’m alive. i am currently 3 1/2 weeks into prozac 40mg feeling nothing with 0.1mg clonidine daily for anxiety attacks. i have heavy derealization and can’t tell what around me is real and fake. please someone tell me it gets better.
- Date posted
- 10w
For the past three years I've smoked marijuana nearly everyday. It helped with my anxiety and quieting my brain and helped me sleep. Recently, it began to make me feel more anxious, i would wake up nauseous and even threw up a couple of times which really triggered some health anxiety. I decided to quit because of this and i'm almost 2 weeks out from the last time I smoked. My body is slowly recovering but my brain just doesn't seem to quit it. I went to my GP a couple of weeks ago for a routine checkup and everything came back normal in my blood work and exam, yet that hasn't stopped me from completely obsessing over my health and feeling like (in my mind, not my body) i'm seriously ill- which is giving me extreme anxiety. Because of my reoccurring stomach issues my GP referred me to a GI who I had an appointment with yesterday. He was very unimpressed by everything I said and seemed like everything is pointing to IBS-which is not serious and something my mother also deals with. He ordered some extra tests to make sure I wasn't dealing with inflammation and he said he was very confident that my internal vital organs were a completely fine. I'm still waiting on those test results and his confidence should I have made me feel better but i'm still freaking out. Everybody in my life is tired of hearing about it and I just don't know what to do anymore. I feel like i'm pushing people away. I feel good and like myself when I'm distracted and doing something fun, but mornings and nights and when i'm doing something mundane it's the worst. I feel like I can feel all of these pains and sensations but I have no idea if it's real. I've even started asking Chatgpt for constant reassurance and constantly googling my symptoms. I'm in a horrible loop. I should mention that on top of quitting weed, I also just graduated college, moved back home and my boyfriend and I started the longest period of long distance we've ever had to do so i'm just not feeling like myself at all. My psychiatrist just put me on Zoloft (my vomiting and intense anxiety coincided with when i began taking Prozac again so she wanted me to try something else) I'm only on day 3 of the meds but nausea and insomnia are the two side effects im dealing with right now which is just making my anxiety so much worse before the meds have even kicked in. Does anyone have advice on how to break this cycle of constant checking-i feel like taking a deep breath has even turned into a compulsion.
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